Leaky Rayleigh and Scholte waves at the fluid–solid interface subjected to transient point loading

The analysis of acoustic waves generated by a transient normal point load applied on a fluid–solid interface is presented. The closed-form exact solution of the wave motion is obtained by using integral transform techniques. The obtained analytical solution provides necessary theoretical background for optimization of fluid-coupled ultrasonic and acoustic wave detection in experiments. Numerical simulation ~elastodynamic finite integration technique! is performed to verify the obtained analytical solution. Detailed descriptions of leaky Rayleigh and Scholte wave solutions are presented. A simplified solution to isolate the contributions of leaky Rayleigh and Scholte waves generated by a transient point load is proposed, and closed-form formulations for displacement and stress components are then presented. The simplified solution is compared to the exact solution for two configurations: water/concrete and air/concrete. The excitation effectiveness of leaky Rayleigh waves for the air/concrete configuration is studied, which has practical significance to air-coupled sensing in civil engineering structures. © 2004 Acoustical Society of America. @DOI: 10.1121/1.1791718#